Green urban housing

The greenest housing is not only building with the latest gadgets for low energy consumption. It’s also recycling and wisely using our existing resources. (I marvel at the “go green!” ads that lure consumers into MORE and BETTER and just plain extra STUFF = More things that will end up in landfills is not actually green, is it?) It’s a great idea to replace or rework high-energy appliances that wear out… but tossing something because it isn’t the latest ‘green’ model makes little sense. We drive our old cars until they don’t drive anymore, figuring maintenance is better for the planet and the wallet than a new car every 2-5 years. There are almost 500,000 miles on my dad’s beat-up Mercedes diesel: it now belongs to his grandson, but passed through 4 family members in process. When it dies, we’ll look for another hand-me-down. Transportation, not flash, is green. Ok, on to the topic at hand – enough with the rant about waste!

We cycled past some empty McMansions, aging real estate signs swinging out in front. Why not divide them into floors or sections for cooperative or multiple family housing? Many have enough land not to be a bother to neighbors. Suggestion to builders with empty lots and bank payments due: build or remodel houses that are small, sell for under $150,000 and watch the people fly to buy in your subdivisions. We need entry level housing for young couples and families, so they can move up to the houses no one can afford as a ‘first.’ Yup, our kids are young adults, looking for those homes.

About 19% of the commercial core downtown is empty. In older buildings that have sagging faces and no tenants in sight, offer the same young people a chance to pay the rent. Put up a skeleton for safety, and let them build and remodel inside. Of course, you’d have to vet them carefully with great personal references and renters insurance – in case they’re not good caretakers, but slobs. And you’d need a strict and legal clause that destruction is cause for removal.

Green is an attitude – reworking, reforming, recycling to have least impact on resources for greatest livability and sustainability. There are a lot of problems with my suggestions (“the neighbors would object; commercial tenants might not like to have families around; etc.) But looking only at obstacles rather than getting excited about challenges and opportunities leaves us with empty housing potential in an area where many can no longer afford the high-end price tag of urban living.